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I think it's time for a thread on the UN, when I read articles like the following, it makes me wonder how much power they should be given. climate change, control of the oceans, armed forces, etc. Seems as though the UN's intent is to take completely over the world, and determine that everyone is going to be subject to whatever rules they pass. What is it they say..."Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely"
Exclusive: The UN starts toward new control over the world's oceans
April 8, 2016
George Russell
"The United Nations has launched a far-reaching initiative that could give U.N.-sponsored authorities sway over the biological resources of the high seas—all the waters that lie outside national territories and economic zones.
The potential shift in power involves multi-trillion-dollar issues, such as whether large areas—conceivably, as much as 30 percent-- of the world’s international waters should be designated as no-go areas to protect biological diversity; whether and how to require elaborate “environmental impact assessments” for future ocean development projects; and how to divide up the economic benefits from the future development of “marine genetic resources.”
Eden Charles, a diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago who is serving as the chairman for a U.N. preparatory committee that began the discussions this week underlined to Fox News that the talks are at a “very, very preliminary stage.”
Overall, the hoped-for treaty will cover “two-thirds of the oceans, almost half the planet,” says Lisa Speer, a senior official of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which is in turn a lead member of a squadron of 33 environmentalist groups banded together as the High Seas Alliance to lobby for protectionist measures during the talks."
snip
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/04/08/exclusive-un-starts-toward-new-control-over-worlds-oceans.html

America to hand off Internet in under two months
August 16, 2016
Rudy Takala
image courtesy you tube
"The Department of Commerce is set to hand off the final vestiges of American control over the Internet to international authorities in less than two months, officials have confirmed.
The department will finalize the transition effective Oct. 1, Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling wrote on Tuesday, barring what he called "any significant impediment."
The move means the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which is responsible for interpreting numerical addresses on the Web to a readable language, will move from U.S. control to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a multistakeholder body based in Los Angeles that includes countries such as China and Russia.
Critics of the move, most prominently Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, have pointed out the agency could be used by totalitarian governments to shut down the Web around the globe, either in whole or in part.
"The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet, expand ICANN's historical core mission by creating a gateway to content regulation, and embolden [its] leadership to act without any real accountability," Cruz wrote in a letter sent to Commerce and signed by two fellow Republicans, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.
In the event any facilities are relocated to China, senators noted, they could go in the same building as the agency responsible for censoring that country's Internet. "We have uncovered that ICANN's Beijing office is actually located within the same building as the Cyberspace Administration of China, which is the central agency within the Chinese government's censorship regime," they wrote, noting that some of the American companies involved with the transition process have already "shown a willingness to acquiesce" to Chinese demands to aid with censorship."
snip
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/america-to-hand-off-internet-in-under-two-months/article/2599521

FCC effort to regulate internet ignores history of past failures
Feb. 24, 2015
Scott Wallsten
Will the FCC repeat past mistakes of regulating telecommunications as utilities? Shutterstock
"Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler claims that his plan to regulate Internet Service Providers (ISPs) under Title II of the 1934 Telecommunications Act is “rooted in long-standing regulatory principles.”
That’s not necessarily a good thing.
While the specifics differ by industry, economics research over the past half century has consistently found Title II-style regulation to be inefficient, harmful to innovation and, therefore, costly to society.
The FCC is expected to vote this week on Wheeler’s proposal. While the details of the plan won’t be released until after the vote (expected Thursday), FCC statements and press reports reveal its broad contours.
Until now, ISPs have been classified as “information services” under Title I of the Act, keeping them largely unregulated. The new rules will classify ISPs as “telecommunications providers” under Title II and subject them to public utility-style, common carrier regulations. Under such rules, ISPs will probably not be allowed to enter into exclusive agreements or provide so-called “fast lanes” to content providers. In other words, it would make one version of net neutrality the law of the land.
Even when established with the best of intentions, however, regulations do not necessarily work for the public good. Instead, they become the product of lobbying by interested parties ranging from companies to public interest groups to Congress and others over how to distribute profits. The interactions between the regulator and those parties inevitably lead to increasingly complex and politicized regulatory regimes. There’s no reason to believe it will be any different this time."
snip
https://theconversation.com/fcc-effort-to-regulate-internet-ignores-history-of-past-failures-37953
more stories
FCC Chair Refuses to Testify before Congress ahead of Net Neutrality Vote
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/414380/fcc-chair-refuses-testify-congress-ahead-net-neutrality-vote-andrew-johnson
Dear FCC: Rethink The Vague "General Conduct" Rulehttps://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/02/dear-fcc-rethink-those-vague-general-conduct-rul
Republicans Fear Net Neutrality Plan Could Lead to UN Internet Powers
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/the-future-of-broadband/republicans-fear-net-neutrality-plan-could-lead-to-un-internet-powers-20150225
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai: Net Neutrality is a "Solution That Won't Work to a Problem That Doesn't Exist"http://reason.com/archives/2015/02/25/fccs-ajit-pai-on-net-neutrality-a-soluti/
Soros, Ford shovel $196 million to 'net neutrality' groups, staff to White Househttp://www.washingtonexaminer.com/soros-ford-shovel-196-million-to-net-neutrality-groups-staff-to-white-house/article/2560702
Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know Nowhttp://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-what-you-need-know-now
Seems there are as many opinions as there are days in a year